Wednesday 17 June 2020 16:28, UK
The men's ATP Tour and women's WTA Tour have both issued their revised calendars for the resumption of professional tennis following the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic
The men's Tour will resume on August 14 with the Citi Open, an ATP 500 event in Washington DC. The first WTA event will be staged in Palermo, Italy from August 3.
Tennis, apart from some exhibition events, ground to a halt in mid-March, with Wimbledon being cancelled and the French Open, which is now scheduled to take place from September 27 to October 11.
For now, the vital energy of spectators in stadiums will be greatly missed, but our athletes are eager to return to competition and our broadcast and social media partners are exploring new ways to engage with our fantastic fans
"Our objective has been to reschedule as many tournaments as possible and salvage as much of the season as we can," ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said.
WTA chairman and CEO Steve Simon said: "It has been a truly collaborative effort and we hope to add more events to the calendar as the situation evolves."
"For now, the vital energy of spectators in stadiums will be greatly missed, but our athletes are eager to return to competition and our broadcast and social media partners are exploring new ways to engage with our fantastic fans. It is our sincere hope and desire that we will be able to return to play this summer."
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) received the green light from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday to hold their marquee tournament, the US Open, as scheduled from August 31 to September 13 without fans.
Cuomo said the USTA would take "extraordinary precautions" to protect players, including robust testing, additional cleaning, extra locker room space and dedicated accommodation.
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